Who earns points on Shopify gift cards
Decide whether the purchaser, the redeemer, both, or no one earns points on Shopify gift cards, and how your Place an order earning conditions still apply.
A Shopify gift card creates two separate moments where points could be earned: when a customer purchases the card, and when someone redeems it against an order. Who earns points on Shopify gift cards lets you decide which of those moments earns.
Find it in Loyalty Program → Points, in the Gift cards section of your point settings. It applies across your whole program, not per earning rule.
Choose who earns
No one
Gift cards never earn points, whether purchased or redeemed.
The purchaser
Purchasing a gift card earns points. Redeeming one does not.
The redeemer
Redeeming a gift card earns points. Purchasing one does not.
Both purchaser and redeemer
Purchasing a gift card earns points, and so does redeeming it.
Each option's help text also reminds you that the earning conditions on your Place an order rule, such as excluding discounted items, still apply to gift cards.
Purchasing and redeeming are different things
When a gift card is purchased it is a line item, so it sits on the order like any other product.
Redeeming a gift card is a payment method. It does not change whether the rest of the order earns points. Every other item is still assessed against your Place an order earning conditions exactly as it would be on a card payment.
Your earning conditions still apply
This setting decides who earns on a gift card. It does not exempt gift cards from the earning conditions on your Place an order rule.
The case that catches people out: if Discounted items via Roadmap/Shopify discounts is set not to earn points, and the gift card itself was sold at a discount, that gift card earns nothing even when the setting is The purchaser. A gift card is a line item, so a discount applied to it counts as a discounted item.
What you will see on a customer's timeline
Every order assessed by an active Place an order rule produces one entry on the customer's loyalty timeline, either Earned or Not Awarded. When a gift card affects the outcome, the entry names it.
The order contained only a gift card, and that gift card was discounted
Not Awarded: The gift card in this order was discounted. Your Place an order rule excludes discounted items from earning, and this applies to gift cards too.
A gift card was redeemed, and every product in the order was discounted
Not Awarded: All items in this order were discounted and excluded from earning by your Place an order rule.
Other items earned, and a discounted gift card was the only excluded line
Earned, noting: A discounted gift card in this order was excluded from earning.
Other items earned, and a gift card was excluded alongside other discounted items
Earned, noting: Some items, including a gift card, were discounted and excluded from earning.
A gift card was redeemed and some products were discounted
Earned, noting: Some items were discounted and excluded from earning. The gift card is not named, because the payment method is not the reason.
Your setting excludes the purchaser, and the order contained only a gift card
Not Awarded: Gift cards do not earn points for the purchaser under your gift card setting.
Your setting excludes the purchaser, and other items earned
Earned, noting: The gift card in this order does not earn points for the purchaser under your gift card setting.
Which option to choose
The purchaser rewards the person spending money with you, and is the closest match to how the rest of your program behaves.
The redeemer suits stores that use gift cards to reach new customers, since the recipient often has not shopped with you before.
Both purchaser and redeemer is the most generous. Read the warning above before choosing it.
No one keeps gift cards entirely outside the loyalty program.
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